Ivan Calderon: Flirting With Time Against Segura

With little fanfare or mainstream press, Ivan Calderon has done it all. The diminutive Puerto Rican star is headed for the Hall of Fame, having been one of the most dominant boxers of the last decade. At his best, he had pure skill and slickness that rivaled anyone -- yes, including Floyd Mayweather. He has been on pound-for-pound lists, but almost as an afterthought. Like you had to include him there because he kept winning, and doing it easily, but ... well, let's get serious.

He was a 105-pound fighter. A strawweight. The littlest of the little guys.

Even among the diehards and the niche boxing outlets that cater to them, the 105- and 108-pound weight classes don't get their due. Flyweight (112) seems as low as most are willing to go to be serious about greatness. Vic Darchinyan fought there (and then at 115, and now at 118) with constant Showtime televised bouts. Nonito Donaire took a giant leap into P4P ranks when he knocked off Darchinyan at 112, and has managed to keep his reputation despite not fighting the level of relative opposition that Calderon has been willing to face.

Calderon won the WBO 105-pound belt in 2003 from Eduardo Ray Marquez, taking every round en route to a nine-round technical decision, and defended it 11 times through April 2007. The names Isaac Bustos, Ronald Barrera, Noel Tunacao and Roberto Leyva probably don't bring to mind great boxing memories or visions for many, but Calderon soundly defeated them all. And all the while, he was a joy to watch in the ring for lovers of the purest form of the sweet science. With no power of which to speak, Calderon used great reflexes to make opponents look foolish. He hit, and he didn't get hit.

In August 2007, he moved up to 108 pounds, immediately taking on the reigning lineal champion, Hugo Cazares of Mexico. It wasn't easy. Cazares (who is now arguably the best 115-pound fighter in the world) was stronger and better than most of the men that Calderon had breezed past in his run at 105. Calderon emerged from their bout a split decision victor, and the real world champion in a new weight class. After successful defenses against Juan Esquer and Nelson Dieppa, Calderon and Cazares met again.

The second bout was close again. But then it happened -- an accidental headbutt opened up a large gash on Calderon's head, stopping the fight at 1:58 of the seventh round. They went to the cards: 67-66, 68-65, 68-65. Calderon escaped.

"Escape" has become routine. In two fights with wild and powerful Filipino Rodel Mayol in 2009, the cut came back to haunt him. Their first bout was declared a draw after six rounds. After seven in the rematch, Calderon got out with a technical split decision in his favor. In his last bout, he was floored in round two by Jesus Iribe, but came back from it to dominate most of the fight, winning a wide unanimous decision.

Calderon was being set up to face 20-year-old Filipino upstart Johnriel Casimero, who stunned many when he knocked off Cesar Canchila in December 2009, sending Canchila to the mat in rounds three, six, and nine, and twice in the 11th and ultimately final round of the bout. But Casimero was upset by Ramon Hirales in July, which took that fight out of the equation.

Instead of looking for an easy substitute, Calderon called up one of the division's best. Giovani Segura, a powerful titlist from Mexico, now living in California. Segura (24-1-1, 20 KO) is the division's hardest puncher, with his only loss coming to Canchila in a dogfight on the Cotto-Margarito undercard in 2008.

Calderon (34-0-1, 6 KO) is 35 years old. In many cases, 30 is a very telling age for the smaller weight classes. Careers on top at the lower weights can be even shorter than the usual boxing career lifespan. But Calderon is special -- always has been. The lack of damage he's taken over his career has given him longer life than most experience, and only recently have age and recurring cut issues cropped up and threatened to end his undefeated run.

And Segura, on paper, is the greatest threat to take Calderon's "0" than anyone since Cazares.

The two meet on PPV this Saturday night from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The aging Calderon isn't quite as slick as he used to be. The reflexes have slowed, the timing has slowed, and it seems like any clash of heads can open him up to the point that a fight needs to be stopped. For the past couple of years, Ivan Calderon has been flirting with time. He's been living on the edge of losses, but coming away with his hand raised, with only one technical draw marring his sheet. Aging boxers always risk any fighter they face being the Grim Reaper of a career, and if Segura has his way, he'll come to the ring with a scythe on Saturday night.